Christmas Loot
Posted on December 27, 2007
Filed Under Deeper Walk |
On Christmas day growing up, as soon as the packages were all rifled through, I couldn’t wait to get on the phone and call my pals and tell them all about my stash. Not much has changed.
Truthfully, giving and receiving gifts is a beautiful thing. Giving reminds us that we are not the center, that moving against our natural selfishness opens our heart to fresh joys. Receiving reminds us how futile our posture of self-sufficiency really is. Receving forces us to open our arms wide to the people and the world around us, to be open to hope and to surprises and to simple pleasures.
In honor to and in gratitude for all this, I’d like to rekindle my childhood tradition and share with you my five favorite gifts I received this year:
#1 A new handcrafted pottery mug from my wife Miska. I’m a sucker for mugs in general - but handmade, artisan, full of originality - I’m getting goose bumps just describing it.
#2 An olive green canvas messenger bag (again from Miska). I’ve been hauling around this beefy mahogony-colored leather bag that is actually pretty exquisite - but it’s thrown my shoulder into spasms and makes me look like an ol’ geezer. Now, I have a slightly more hipster bag to carry all my messages in.
#3 A Galimoto from my five year old son Wyatt. We took Wyatt and Seth to Ten Thousand Villages (a fantastic fair-traded store with all kinds of handmade items from artists all over the world). They have a “Little Village” for kids where volunteers help them pick out and wrap presents themselves. This was what Wyatt picked out for me - a dynamite little African toy. Of course, the fact that it was from my son and that he was so excited to give it to me - that was the best part.
#4: A dear friend gave Miska and me a hand-sewn blanket from India. This is a remarkable gift, a remarkable story. Sari Bari is a new venture that imports blankets sewn by women rescued from the slave trade. This allows them to build a business and earn a living as they restore their dignity. The blankets are made from the Indian sari and each has the name of a woman who is making a new life for herself sewn into it - and “each purchase participates in her freedom.” If that were not enough, the blanket is absolutely stunning.
#5 (and an honorable mention) Miska gave the three Collier men Conn 
and Hal Iggulden’s Dangerous Book for Boys. This is definitely boys only - no girls allowed. This book explains how to tan an animal skin and make a battery and build a treehouse. It narrates the golden age of piracy and a brief history of artillery. It provides the seven poems as well as the seven latin phrases every boy should know. It explains how to play poker and even makes a stab at how to understand girls. This is going to be fun. [and you will see the honorable mention in the corner - who doesn’t love a new pair of Gap socks?]
And my very favorite gift I gave this year was a new title banner for my wife’s blog. Each year Miska and I make each other a gift - it’s what I most look forward to. It gives me an opportunity to tell my wife that I see her and that I believe in her and that I love her more than she could imagine.
I hope each of you gave well and received well this Christmas. Both are Gospel acts.
Why don’t you share some of your favorites?
peace / Winn
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I totally gave my brother the Dangerous Book For Boys for christmas. i love it!
Wow, I was definitely blessed this year, for sure. I would have to say that my most favorite gift that I received was a perfume named Danielle. My mom got this for me and the reason that it is so great and so special, is because my mom, my two sisters and I ALL like this scent! It’s a miracle! It’s something that ALL of us actually agree on!
Let’s see here, my most fave gifts that I gave would have to be the “Bob Wobble Clock” (it’s awesome, it wobbles back and forth, changes colors when you run your hand over the top of it and it tells the time, temp and date) that I gave my boyfriend and also the Simon card. The Simon card is such a beautiful thing. Don’t get me wrong, I like being thoughtful and creative with my gift-giving, but Simon cards are wonderful to give and to receive 
This was the first Christmas I began wrestling with the whole gift giving thing at Christmas. Honestly, if I had been born on an island with just a Bible, there is no way I would have come up with the celebratory traditions we see in America.
The story of Jesus’ birth does not at all point me to gift giving, Santa Claus, tree killing and decorating or fancy lights. I see sacrifice and pain, and at the same time hope and majesty. And I see no difference in the world for about 30 years following Jesus’ birth.
I read that wise men gave Jesus gifts for purchasing a tomb, embalming fluid for preparing a dead body and perfume for hiding the smell of a decomposing body. These are not the kind of gifts I would like to have received when my son was born last year. I would not want others to help me prepare to bury my son upon his birth.
I think that it is good to be conscious of our purchases. It is good to buy things that help people make a better life for themselves any day of the year for sure. But what story did we tell last Christmas? What story should we be telling each Christmas?
Our purchases communicate vastly more than we are willing to admit. Our purchases may communicate to our children a way to communicate love; however I do not believe that love can be communicated through material goods. Our traditions communicate things we may not want our eyes to see and our minds to open up to. Santa…What? Christmas Trees…Huh? Lights…Why? Fruitcake…Don’t go there!
Yeah, I purchased gifts this year, but I am not proud of it. In fact, I don’t think it has anything to do with the birth of Jesus or his life.
Jesus gave relational gifts, gifts of himself and his time and wise counsel, his life to bring hope, faith and love to a dying people. These things cannot be made with human hands or purchased with man’s currency.
Happy New Year!
We have 5 kids so Christmas can be a little tight. That never dampens the spirits of our children though. This year was no exception. We take our kids to the dollar store so they can pick out something for each other. They can only pick out one thing per sibling. It is very hard for them and it takes forever but on Christmas morning, my son opened a small gift from his sister and threw his arms around her and hugged her. They are normally fighting so this had to be the best gift of all. It wasn’t the gift obviously but the fact that his sister took the time to find something he was interested in. We only get each of the kids three things (this stems from the fact that Jesus received three gifts from the wise men) so we put a lot of thought into each of the presents. Our kids are very grateful and that has to be the best present of all!